You might want to get some experience carrying concealed for a while, or maybe some real world experience like the military or LE. Take some classes and learn as much as you can. Not only should you know what you are talking about, but you should be able to articulate why you are talking about it, like giving real world experience. Like g.willikers was talking about with the MA instructor, I am in that type of situation, I am a Sgt. with only 7 yrs, and i'm 32 yrs old and some people look down on that because I don't have a lot of time or age, but I have a lot of different experiences, and seen a lot of different things in corrections. That real world experience helps out a lot, when you are trying to convey something to someone, you have to explain why you are teaching them that way and not some other way. Sorry for the ramble just trying to give some advice, good luck!